The construction of local networks with multiple stations uses in particular connections for transmitting data in digital form whose transmission medium is formed by a common multiconductor cable, very often an electromagnetically screened cable comprising two insulated wires.
A plurality of pieces of equipment for example compatible processors and/or terminals are then connected together in series by the common cable along which they are spaced apart.
For reasons of convenience, economy and reliability, formation of the wiring and the connections tends to be carried out more and more in the factory, as much as possible, rather than on the site to the extent that it is easier to have there all the means required for implementation and testing and where the production conditions are easier to control.
Thus, the tendency is to be able to deliver network harnesses comprising the common cable along which all the individual connectors and branch wiring are mounted and connected for connecting up the equipment to be served by the cable, via the connectors. The branch cables of such harnesses are themselves often connected to component elements of equipment served, for example to the transmitter-receiver units of this equipment which are then housed in appropriate cases.
Such harnesses thus equipped can be stored on drums for transport and each harness is unwound and connected on the site, the connecting operations being thus considerably reduced. However, to the extent that the whole of the equipment is not necessarily used immediately on installation, it is useful for the connectors to be able to be fitted on the cables without however being necessarily inserted in series on the connection, when the equipment to be served is not in position, since the series electrical connection would then risk being interrupted at the level of the connector and/or of the connecting cable concerned. It is also important for the connectors to be able to be added subsequently.